


Asylum

by Sephirotha



Category: Final Fantasy Type-0
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-14 11:23:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8011735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirotha/pseuds/Sephirotha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xeanna's class are just a bunch of normal children.  They study, they socialise, they enjoy life.  Dr Arecia, is concerned of the threats that their seemingly innocent presence might cause in her world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Valkyrie was shaken out of her routine practice as a booming crash echoed throughout the campus.  She turned on her heel as she began running towards the source, katanas sheathed and the practice dummy left hanging, completely massacred.  She skidded through the corridors that were abuzz, worrying about the sudden disruption at this early hour.  She turned the next corner sharply and sprinted into the courtyard, stopping at the pile of bodies that lay in the middle.  She recognised the top one immediately.

“Anne, what the hell?!” she shrieked.

“Ugh…morning, Val…” her twin murmured in a daze.

“It’s still breakfast time, why are you causing chaos so early in the morning?!”

Valkyrie stooped and pulled her up to her feet, dusting her down.

“You’re going to have to rebuild that wall again, you know?” she grumbled as officers and teachers began coming to the scene “And it’ll take a lot longer than last time.  I thought you had reinforced it so this sort of thing wouldn’t happen again?”

Anne shook herself out of her daze and pointed to one of the bodies on the pile.

“He started it.”

She was pointing Naghi who was still out for the count.

“Uh-huh?” Valkyrie folded her arms “Right…”

“He was snooping through my weapons and armour that I had left for the night!” Anne whined then pointed to the huge sword that was embedded into the ground by the bodies “He got a hold of the latest when I came in and when he wouldn’t put it down, I tried to take it off him.  Then he pushed us into Mutsuki’s latest batch of explosives and boom!”

Valkyrie wandered over to the sword as Anne turned to face the music from the Moogles and other staff.  She yanked it out of the ground and held it up with a grunt, her arms shaking a little at the weight.

“Uh-huh…” she said, grabbing her sister’s attention after she had agreed to rebuild the wall “You and Naghi were fighting to get a hold of this?”

“Yes!” Anne whined.

“I can barely lift it myself,” Valkyrie grunted as she lowered the sword so her arms wouldn’t hurt so much “Anne…”

“It’s the truth!  You know how much he’s been snooping around lately!  People pay him to spy on others and I can bet you a thousand Gil right now that Cinque put him up to it!”

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

“Anne, why would Cinque of all people care about what you make?”

“She’s been begging me to craft a mace like the one I made for Ryid except ‘without the spiky bits’!  And you know her destructive tendencies.”

“OK, one, Cinque loves her current mace model, I would know, my ribs still have bruises from the last time we sparred.  And two, she hasn’t blasted the armoury wall for the fourth time this month!  And just letting you know, I am not helping you this time!”

“But it was an accident,” Anne pouted.

Valkyrie sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Just make sure you get to the infirmary for a check-up before rebuilding,” she sighed.

Anne just tilted her head with a smile.

“Yes, ma’am,” she saluted.

* * *

 

“So noisy, it’s too early,” Jack mumbled as he tagged behind King and Nine when on their way to breakfast.

“You would think they would start making explosives somewhere away from Miss Calamity,” Nine muttered under his breath.

“Morning,” Anne grumbled as she walked past them with her arms full of building supplies.

“Who’s to blame this time?” King asked and the little blacksmith sighed.

“Naghi, he found the Buster Sword.”

She pouted before going off to rebuild the wall.

“What’s a Buster Sword?” Jack asked as they headed to the queue to get a hot breakfast.

“She’s been working on a new sword model this fortnight,” King replied.

“Ah, do you think it’ll be approved by the armoury?” Nine scratched his head.

King shrugged.

“I don’t think they would be as excited if Gwen gives them her ideas for a gunblade.”

“The what now?” Jack yawned.

King turned to grab a tray.

“Oh, right, King!” Jack suddenly perked up “Practice, after lunch, OK?”

King sighed a little as he helped himself to a plate of sausages and baked beans.

* * *

 

Guinevere drained the last of her bottle before setting it down next to the others on the ledge.  She clicked her gun, walked back ten paces and shot the middle on to pieces.

“Bit early to be drinking, isn’t it?”

Guinevere scoffed as King appeared behind her, loading his magazines into his guns.

“Relax, it’s just carbonated water,” she said “That brand that prefers using glass bottles instead of plastic.”

King aimed over her shoulder and shot another bottle.  The pieces flew across the roof that they were on and Guinevere cocked her head curiously.

“What’s gotten you in such a mood?”

King scowled softly.

“Jack insists that we must practice after lunch.”

Guinevere smirked as she stepped to the side and aimed her gun.

“You know what they say about practice.”

She shot the leftmost bottle next and watched as the lower half rolled down the roof and got stuck in the gutter.

“I hate practice,” King muttered sullenly as he aimed for another bottle.

Guinevere watched as he shot the neck of the bottle and sent it flying back towards where the recycling bins were supposed to be.

“Your point?” she drawled as she slowly aimed for the last bottle standing.

“I play from my heart, I don’t need to practice.”

Guinevere lowered her gun immediately to poorly suppress her humour.

“Pfft!  Wow, lame.”

King shot the final bottle to pieces and Guinevere shoved her pistols into their holsters before wandering around to collect what was left of the bottle massacre.

“Is that a new tattoo?”

Guinevere smirked over her shoulder as she caught King’s gaze on the back of her thigh.

“The dragon one’s been there for three years,” she said before lifting part of her shorts “This one…”

“Do you have no shame?” King averted his eyes to avoid staring at her butt.

Guinevere covered the skull tattoo she had done last week and shrugged.

“Didn’t peg you for the shy type,” she smirked wider as she tossed the glass fragments into a small bucket she had brought along.

“How do you get away with it?” King shook his head “Not once have I seen you wear the school uniform.”

“Xeann lets me wear what I want and do whatever I want to my body,” Guinevere grinned.

“You have lectures with other teachers, I doubt they allow you into their classrooms looking like that.”

Guinevere stretched herself out, showing her tattoos and piercings to anyone who might bother to look up and see her.

“I do have a set of uniform to wear for those lectures,” she sighed with a disappointed pout “It’s such a pain, it feels so stuffy.”

“Especially since you need to hide all your tattoos.”

Guinevere looked like a spoilt brat as she sat on the ledge.

“Still, most of my lectures are with Xeann.  She doesn’t care.  Says it’s part of my personality and she respects that.”

“She is far too lenient.”

Guinevere stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

“What about you and Dr Arecia then?” she teased “She pretty much dotes on you more than Xeann and I.”

King didn’t respond, just rolled his shoulders as he put his guns away.

“First lectures are beginning in ten minutes,” he said as he headed down.

Guinevere groaned as she flounced after him, grabbing her uniform that had been carelessly tossed to the side.

* * *

 

“I’m telling you, it’s not for you!”

Zerenity hesitated as she came across Sice and Seven in the corridor, Sice looking red and exasperated whilst Seven looked wistful with a light blush on her cheeks.

“I never considered this sort of thing, it’s so new…” Seven muttered.

“Argh!” Sice threw her arms down.

“Problem?” the young brunette smiled curiously at the girls and Sice turned to her in a flash.

“Zerenity!”

Zerenity caught the letter clasped in Sice’s hand and frowned.

“Weren’t you supposed to…?”

“Tell her it isn’t for her!” Sice cut her off and gestured to Seven.

Seven looked to Zerenity who had a brief mischievous look before adopting a similar wistful look.

“Well you _are_ quite close…”

“WHAT?!”

“Zerenity, you knew?” Seven whispered softly as her cheeks went pinker.

“No, no, but I always suspected something…” Zerenity hummed.

“What?!  No, I, it, he…  I told you who it was for yesterday when I asked for advice damn it!”

Zerenity held back her smirk as she leaned in closer to Seven.

“But how do you feel?” she asked and Seven let out another sigh.

“It’s…I don’t know, it’s so sudden…”

“I’m telling you, it’s not like that!” Sice bellowed, her voice echoing down the corridors.

Zerenity snickered as she shrugged.

“Well…” she drawled as she continued on her way “This really sounds like something that the two of you alone should discuss…”

“Wait, what the hell?!”

Zerenity giggled as she skipped along the corridors as Sice went redder and screamed again as Seven continued pondering.

* * *

 

“Shortcut!”

Timber and Luka watched as Cater launched herself off the railing and landed right on Eight.  Timber covered his mouth as Luka raised an amused eyebrow.

“Never the smoothest of acrobats,” he drawled.

“Luka, I think they’re really hurt!” Timber tugged at Luka before rushing to the unconscious couple.

Luka sighed as the shorter boy ushered him over whilst checking the heads for concussion.

* * *

 

“OUT OF THE WAY!”

Sora dashed out of the way as Nine barrelled down the field and shot his spear.  He then stumbled a bit, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.

“Ms Emina…” he whimpered under his breath as Sora stared at him with raised eyebrows.

“Nine, is everything OK?” he asked slowly as Nine pushed himself up and kicked at the grass.

“Shut up!”

Sora stepped back and tilted his head thoughtfully.

“You’re awfully angry…” he muttered as Nine paced up and down angrily “Hm, did your confession not go as planned?”

“I said to shut up!”

Sora winced as he felt like he hit the nail on the head and flexed his arms.  He snatched his own javelin up and braced himself.

“Then get out of the way, I’m here to practice too!”

Nine stood still and threw his arms out.

“Then come at me, you softie!”

“Don’t get me angry, Nine,” Sora growled as he gripped his javelin tight.

“You don’t get angry!  You pansy!”

“This is your last warning!”

“Come at me!”

Sora and Nine roared in unison, onlookers staring as Sora charged down the field with his javelin raised.  Sora threw his javelin at Nine, causing a few girls to shriek.  Nine barely flinched as the javelin missed his head and landed a few feet away from him.  Both boys were breathing heavily, glaring at one another until Nine let out a breathless chuckle.

“You missed!”

“You think I’d actually run you through?” Sora drawled as he placed his hands on the knees, recovering from the burst of fury.

“You keep that javelin of yours maintained, you’ve got perfect arms, you can kill a Behemoth in a single strike.”

“I don’t know, cracking your thick skull would be a challenge.”

“Why you…!”

Sora smirked as he caught Nine in a headlock.

* * *

 

“Aaaaaargh!  Not listening!”

“Quiet in the library!”

Machina jumped as a shorter young boy, his stern expression masked with a pair of metal framed glasses suddenly appeared before him and Ace.  Erik’s cheeks suddenly went pink and he looked away shyly, hiding his face with the book in his hands.

“Uh, that is…” he stuttered softly “People are reading and studying…”

Machina just smiled and ruffled Erik’s hair, making the shorter boy tense and shrink away.

“Sorry, no problem,” he grinned before grabbing Ace “We were just leaving.”

“Ah, wait, I need to return my book!”

Ace stumbled after Machina, leaving poor Erik alone and shivering.

* * *

 

Echo silently sipped her milkshake as she studied her music book.  She sat alone in the busy café, in her usual spot by her favourite table at the window.  She listened to the song that was playing in her cd player, her mind focused and intent to get this song perfect in preparation for her rehearsal slot later that afternoon.  Her focus was suddenly gone when a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked up to see a familiar face smiling at her.

“Trey,” she said in acknowledgement before taking her headphones off.

“Mind if we sit with you?” her friend asked as he gestured to King and Jack behind him.

Echo looked at them all, her eyes calculating and curious.

“Do you not have the hall booked for your band rehearsal at this time?”

Jack flinched, King scowled and Trey gave her a sheepish look.

“We decided to get some drinks instead,” he answered softly.

“Well, if you are not using the hall, may I?”

“See, why can’t you be like little Echo?” Jack complained to King “She’s eager to practice, which we should be doing right now!”

King rolled his eyes as Echo took her book and drink and stood.

“Well, Echo, why don’t you stay for a while?” Trey suggested “It’s been a while since we’ve had a chat.”

“I would love to, however I wish to practice,” Echo politely declined “I wish to achieve a perfect performance and as the common saying goes ‘Practice makes perfect.’”

“Indeed it does,” Trey nodded “Although the term perfect is quite unachievable.  There is no such thing as perfect in our world, it is only an adjective to describe a desirable outcome which will please everyone and of course…”

“So we’ll see you later!” Jack interrupted “Hey, Echo, if I can manage to convince King to practice later today, could we use your rehearsal slot?”

“If you turn up, I will allow it,” Echo nodded them offered a small smile to Trey “We’ll talk later.”

She turned away and headed back to the campus as Trey muttered a soft goodbye.

* * *

 

Asa gazed at the displayed cards thoughtfully before making his move. 

“And I heard that Izana and Emina are an item now.”

“Oh?!  You know, I did see Nine going at Sora earlier.  I guess that’s why he’s so upset.”

“Yeah, like he had a shot in the first place.”

Asa hummed with interest as the group of guys passed him by.

“Interesting,” he commented.

“Hey, hey, you’ll never guess what I’ve heard!”

“What is it?!”

“Sice gave Seven a love letter!”

“No way!”

Asa raised his eyebrows, an action that went unseen by the girls that walked by.

“Very interesting.”

“So what’s going on with you and Mutsuki?”

Asa lifted his eyes slightly as he watched Machina and Ace stroll by, no doubt off to meet Rem for lunch.

“Oh, well, it’s still a bit early, you know,” Ace looked a little shy “She’s very outspoken but she’s nice to be with.”

“Have you kissed yet?”

“Machina!” Ace chided as he blushed lightly and glanced away “We’ve only been on one date, nothing’s really official…”

They went out of Asa’s earshot, who had a thoughtful look on his face.

“Most interesting.”

“Asa!”

Asa turned his head and greeted the approaching girls with a dazzling smile.

“My favourite ladies!” he greeted to which Cinque giggled, Deuce blushed and Queen smiled shyly “Wait, I have a few things…”

He turned to Queen first and picked up the Queen of Hearts card that was on the table.

“For the queen of the school,” he grinned before waving his hand quickly.

Queen gasped as the card vanished and a fountain pen that had her name engraved on was between his fingers.

“My favourite pen, I thought I had lost it!” she exclaimed as Asa handed it over to her.

“It appears your pencil case has a hole in it, I found it on the floor in Dr Arecia’s classroom.”

Queen blushed a little as he turned to Deuce next.

“Now, for the cutest musician I’ve ever met…”

Deuce giggled as Asa pulled a coin out from his sleeve.

“Heads or tails, think fast!”

Deuce stuttered before she could say either as the magician flipped the coin.

“Heads!” Cinque called out and Asa chuckled as he caught the coin and slapped it onto the back of his hand.

He pulled his hand away and the girls gasped as a scrunchie was now in place of the coin.

“I’ve been looking for that for days!” Deuce exclaimed as Asa handed it over.

“Yes, it was a little tricky,” Asa grimaced “Normally I find lost things quickly but when I was looking for your lost scrunchie, I realised that perhaps it was in your room.”

“Y-Y-You went into my room?!” Deuce squeaked and Asa chuckled, shaking his head.

“Course not, I had Zerenity go in.  I would never invade a lady’s privacy.”

Deuce let out a relieved sigh then frowned.

“Wait, so where was it?!”

“Under your bedside table apparently.”

Deuce sighed tiredly and slumped in her seat.

“It was tails by the way, Cinque,” Asa smiled as he lifted one of his cards to reveal the coin he had used.

“Nya?!”

Queen and Deuce giggled at Cinque’s bewildered look.  The hyperactive teen slumped with a pout.  Asa smirked and leaned over the table.

“That’s four kisses you owe me.”

“Eh?!”

Cinque sat up straight with red cheeks.  Asa chuckled.

“I’m just kidding,” he purred as he leaned over “There does seem to be something stuck in your ear.”

“Really?”

Asa produced a rose and smiled at her deviously.

“A beautiful rose for a beautiful young lady.”

Cinque giggled as she accepted the rose and fiddled with it, not meeting Asa’s gaze.

“So what brings you here this fine afternoon?” he asked as he sat back, gathering his cards to shuffle them “Other than destiny of course.”

Queen rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Well, we wanted to know if you’ve heard anything about Ace and Mutsuki?”

“Ace and Mutsuki, eh?” Asa sighed as he glanced across the campus thoughtfully, picking up the Ace of Spades to fiddle with “You know, I did see Ace and Machina pass by earlier.”

“Yes…?”

The girls leaned in closer and Asa chewed his lip thoughtfully.

“They _might_ have mentioned something about Mutsuki…”

“Eh?!”

Asa placed the card down to snap his fingers.

“Oh yes!  Ace admitted that he and Mutsuki had been on one date!”

“I told you!” Queen exclaimed as Deuce and Cinque gasped.

“I knew it!” Cinque squealed.

“Oh, they do make a cute couple!” Deuce giggled.

“Speaking of cute couples…”

Queen trailed off and smirked slyly at Asa.  Asa read her look coolly as she tilted her head slightly towards Cinque.

“Oh and I also heard that Sice gave Seven a love letter!”

“WHAT?!”

Cinque gasped and shot off, no doubt to find Sice and ask about this letter.  Deuce ran off after her, apparently eager to find Sice too.  Queen sighed shortly and looked at Asa sternly.

“You know, she isn’t good at taking a hint.”

Asa shrugged.

“I’ll make my move when the time is right,” he said dismissively “So, want a game?”

 

* * *

 

Xeanna marked her students’ work at her desk, avoiding the sun to reduce glare.  She heard her doors open and looked up, smiling as Dr Arecia waltzed in.  She stood and matched her swagger as she walked around her desk to face her.

“What can I do for you?” she purred.

Dr Arecia glared at her and Xeanna’s smile wavered.  Then the room went cold as the two women glowered at each other.

“My, did someone neglect to drink their coffee?” the dark haired teacher drawled.

“I know who and what you are,” Dr Arecia said coolly and Xeanna tilted her chin at her “And I would like to warn you, I do not tolerate threats to my world.”

Xeanna folded her arms and sighed, leaning against her desk.

“Well then,” she said coolly “I should probably tell you why we’re here then.  Oh, and perhaps we should talk in your office?  You never know what these children eavesdrop on.”


	2. Chapter 2

Xeanna wafted smoke out of her face as Arecia sat at her desk and regarded her from the top of her glasses.

“Talk.”

Xeanna laced her fingers together and sighed, nibbling her lip as she paused to find a beginning to her story.

“I had been waiting for you to appear to talk,” she said “After all, only those who were involved in the creation of worlds can notice the changes to their realm.”

Arecia hummed a little, taking a drag from her cigarette.  Xeanna tapped her fingers on her knees curiously before taking in a short breath.

“Our world was attacked, a god from another realm attacked our higher ranking beings and this caused us to scatter.  I gathered what stragglers I could find and brought them to the nearest world which happened to be this one.”

“Are any of them aware?” Arecia took a moment to take another drag.

Xeanna coughed and waved the smoke away.

“No, they’re all young and still training to become full-fledged guardians.  None of them could hold a candle to my power.”

Arecia hummed again, placing the cigarette holder between her lips thoughtfully.

“I have tried contacting others from my rank but I haven’t had any response.”

“First things first, I would rather you not do that,” Arecia narrowed her eyes and Xeanna glared venomously “You’re distorting the world too much through your efforts to regroup as you do not belong here.”

“Without finding my comrades, I can’t leave this realm with my children,” Xeanna said firmly “We’re fugitives, we need to find enough of each other to form a temporary sanctuary and plan on our retaliation.”

“Then I’ll search for them,” Arecia said dismissively, blowing a puff of smoke in her direction “I belong here, I will be able to find others of your world.  Then you may leave.”

“Terrific,” Xeanna clenched her teeth as she waved the smoke away.

“And one other thing.”

“What?”

“This tyrant that tore your world apart,” Arecia replaced her cigarette once her current one had completely disintegrated into ashes “you didn’t lead it here, did you?”

“Sure, I’d lead a power-hungry entity to the place where my children and I are hiding from him,” Xeanna layered on the sarcasm thickly.

“How long ago did this invasion take place?”

“I am not a goddess, just a high-ranking sorceress like yourself,” Xeanna sighed softly “I have no concept of how much time might have passed from the attack to our arrival.”

“You’ve been here two weeks in this realm,” Arecia hummed as she took a long thoughtful drag “There has been no sign of anomalies so either you’ve travelled far and for an extended time period, for a god, or he has moved away from our realm.”

Xeanna looked vexed as she clutched her hands together, staring into space.

“It was gruelling,” she whispered “I was clinging onto all of them, desperate to not lose any of them.  I was losing energy; I knew I had to go as far as possible so we could have the best recovery.  I might have not been involved in each of their individual creations but I do love them like a mother would.  You do understand, don’t you?”

“You forced yourselves into history, you’ve created paradoxes in our future.”

“We would have brought too much attention to ourselves if we just crashed outside this school!” Xeanna barked “You should understand that such a matter doesn’t concern mortals and creating the paradoxes would have brought only your attention.”

“My superiors will be wanting to speak with you.”

Xeanna swallowed as she nodded curtly.

“Also, if you do value your class as your own children…”

Arecia leaned forward and met with her red eyes.

“Just how valuable are they in your realm?”

Xeanna hesitated, not wanting to divulge such information.  But Arecia’s eyes spoke everything.  She needed to know in case they lose their student identities and their rightful powers will begin to overtake them.

“The ones with least concern…” she began saying “…Sora, definitely Sora.  He may be strong but he is merely training to teach combat to guardians, he has little power.  Then there’s Guinevere, she is merely my bodyguard, nothing more.”

Arecia nodded slowly as she drew a pen to write down notes.

“The twins, Anne and Valkyrie,” Xeanna continued “they may need a close eye.  They serve as guardians of the gates to…the realm of our gods.  They discern whether potential candidates may pass to train as guardians or must be sent down to the…what your lore calls the Unseen Realm.”

Arecia paused and stared at Xeanna with concern.

“When you say the Unseen Realm…”

“I do mean it, a world where all that wish to devour and destroy are banished to.”

“And if the twins develop their powers in this world…”

“It’s only Anne who has the power to banish, but her powers shouldn’t develop, not when her sister is there unconsciously countering her with her own magic.  I made sure to have Valkyrie’s magic mechanically active.”

“None of your students are able to use magic through you are they?” Arecia asked quickly.

“They have their own magic but I made sure to shut most of them off.  Or what I could.  I sense the lack of crystals in this realm, Arecia, I understood what I had to do before landing here.”

“And Valkyrie, she won’t display magic?”

“Don’t worry, she barely had magic to begin with.  All she has is the little magic that can suppress Anne’s.”

Arecia wrote a few more notes down before waving her hand for Xeanna to continue.

“Echo would possess magic but I made sure to suppress as much of it as possible.  There are flecks of magic coming out of her voice which I’ve been trying to find a solution to.”

“What is she training to be?”

“The Seventh Muse, a goddess of music.”

Arecia frowned and Xeanna shook her head.

“She hasn’t had her final test yet, she hasn’t been granted divinity and is still below me.”

“…Continue.”

Xeanna took in a short breath as she pondered for a moment.

“Asa is just training to be a guardian to help guide potential souls to become heroes, he isn’t something to be concerned with.  Ah, there is Erik who might need to be watched closely.” Xeanna looked really worried.  “He does have a lot of magic, he is a messenger between realms so he does need it to be able to pass through barriers.”

“Have you suppressed his powers?”

“I’ve done everything I can but nothing has happened yet.  He’s been spending all his free time in the library, he hasn’t been doing anything to aggravate his powers.  I just hope it stays that way.”

“I would like to check him, see if I could help suppress his powers.  Echo too, I would like to check her.  The twins would need to have a quick check over, I would like to see the nature of their powers closely.”

Xeanna nodded and Arecia frowned.

“Zerenity, Luka and Timber are left.”

“Zerenity,” Xeanna hissed “Yes, she was easy to suppress but she is in line to becoming the goddess of love.  She hasn’t been granted divinity and she’ll be safe as long as our current goddess of love stays alive.”

“But you have restraints in place.”

“She doesn’t have that many on, she reacted really badly so some of the particularly stronger restraints.”

“Then she’ll need to be examined too…”

“Now,” Xeanna looked rather uncomfortable “Timber and Luka are half-brothers, they share a mother.”

“Go on…” Arecia regarded her above her glasses.

“Timber’s father is a god, making him a demi-god.  He’s got all of my possible restraints.”

“A demi-god?” Arecia lifted her head sharply.

“But he is still at a low rank, considering his illegitimacy.  Despite his divinity he has been subjected to having his memory altered once we were fully synced with your realm’s history.”

“And Luka…?”

“A simple ranking guardian but he isn’t active.  He is more Timber’s bodyguard.  You might find it a challenge to get Timber alone if you want to take a look at him.”

“I will find something,” Arecia nodded and sat back “But I will need to talk to my colleague about Timber.”

“And about contacting any other survivors from my realm?”

“I will inform you at the earliest possible moment,” Arecia nodded sternly “It shouldn’t take too long to find enough survivors for you to leave and restore this world.”

“Shame,” Xeanna sighed sombrely “It is a beautiful world…”

She looked distant as she glanced out of the window behind Arecia’s desk.

“Is there anything else about this god that you could tell me about?” Arecia asked as she folded her hands on her lap.

“He didn’t pass through where I had been at the time,” Xeanna still had a distant look in her eyes as she spoke “But we felt the attacks that tore our heavens apart.  We heard the cry of death from our maker.  If the fight between them hadn’t torn us apart and sent us into the Abyss Between Worlds, I have no idea what would have become of us.”

“So no clues as to the origin of this…conqueror.”

Arecia took a long drag from her cigarette as she stared at her notes on her desk.

“Arecia?”

Arecia glanced up at the suddenly meek looking sorceress.

“If he does come this way, it will take a combined effort to at least keep him at bay.”

Arecia let the smoke out slowly as she eyed Xeanna.

“We don’t know how much power he is capable of,” she said “I doubt our gods will want to fight to risk the same fate.  We don’t know of his intentions so why should we engage in such a futile struggle?”

Xeanna narrowed her eyes.

“So you will let the worlds around you fall and not even try to help take him down?”

“Self-preservation is natural.  I’m sure you’ll understand.”

Xeanna didn’t look happy as she stood.

“I understand.  But I do not appreciate such apathy.”

Xeanna turned on her heel sharply and flounced out of Dr Arecia’s office.

 


End file.
